Meet David Haddad

We were lucky to catch up with David Haddad recently and have shared our conversation below.

David, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

Purpose. Commitment, resilience, and courage. These are all interwoven together.
Purpose comes from desire and passion combined with desperation. In my early years of developing restaurants and luxury hospitality (1983-1995), I had the good fortune of learning the strategies of building systems, scaling to multiple properties in various locations. I learned the basics and depths of Profit and Loss, economic drivers of our needs for execution of a great experience. In 1995, when the idea of a cigar program for on premise service came to me, I had nothing. Desperation was the motivation. I had met my future wife, she had 2 boys, 3 and 9. I had decided that the direction and time was right for me to commit 100% to this idea, dream of self-reliance and self-determination. A true entrepreneur has NO PLAN B. If I was going to do this, I had to be totally committed. The trials of standing up a new industry, a concept that did not exist, was daunting but achievable. This is the resilience. This is where the courage comes in play. You will find purpose in life with the family being the motivation, the determination the result of desperation.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

My father, a first-generation college student, immigrant from Lebanon and successful Orthodontist would later in life become a developer. He was determined to leave his mark on my hometown, Medina, Ohio. His philosophy was driven into my sister and myself, IF YOU DO WELL, YOU MUST DO GOOD. I started my young journey in middle school, becoming a statewide successful junior golfer, traveling to tournaments and practicing daily. In High School, I discovered my love of theater, music, dancing and performing. When it came time to go to college, the 2 loves I had, golf and acting, seemed a distant opportunity, with little or no chance of success. As the President of my class, a small town in Ohio, would give me the foundation of good will, being a person of good cheer and hospitality, I decided the University of Denver, Hotel, Restaurant Management, a BSBA in business, would be a good fit for the skills I had acquired. The background in High School, the training in hospitality and the opportunities I had with the first companies I worked for and built, were all building blocks of FUMAR CIGARS. Without the understanding and insights to the luxury golf world, the ability to perform and hold an audience and finally the hospitality business skills prepared me for the industry I would create. This was truly exciting, keeping the excitement was easy.
Fumar Cigars is a company designed by me to be a vehicle for the skills I had and a service I could provide that both the hospitality and cigar industry had not seen. Our business focuses on 5 different elements:
1: On Premise Service, providing over 400 resorts, destination clubs and high-end golf clubs custom humidors, world class cigar offerings all on consignment. This gave the resort/clubs an opportunity to have great products with me holding all the risk. I became an INVESTOR vs a VENDOR. We did all the work, compliance and fulfillment to make their guests feel special and have world class experiences. In many of our super high-end locations, we provide cigars that are 40-80 yrs old and exceed $1000/cigar! The most expensive today on the market is $5000 per cigar. And, yes, we sell them!
2: Cigar rolling shows and events. Fumar hosts over 500 cigar shows a year throughout the country. I have performed in 47 states, 8 countries and 3 continents. In our cigar shows, mostly corporate and wedding programs for cigar bars, we share the STORY OF AMERICANA THROUGH THE LENS OF THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY. Every event has custom labels for the client, sponsors or host. Weaving stories, history, dispelling lies, myths and legends and sharing the art of making cigars. This is the backbone of our profits.
3: Retail Operations, which are featured at the home club and lounge in North Phoenix Az. Our 4000 sq ft lounge is a throwback to prohibition, hidden lounge room and over 400 lines of cigars sold. Designed and original artwork done by Walt Disney Set Design team in 2008, this lounge is 2nd to none. It is fun and full of characters! Our rare cigar collection is a draw, but, the bulk of the fun comes from the amazing staff of hospitality experts we have on our team.
4: Personal Services, providing world class clients and daily guests a fully sustainable service of amazing products and private label services. We do over 1000 custom labeled cigar programs for clients annually. We are fully vertically integrated so we can do fulfillment, custom labeling and packaging right in house, often overnight! We keep personal records of each client to know their habits, likes and preferences.
5: Consulting services, designing and developing cigar lounges for others. In 2023 we launched a service taking my 30 plus years of cigar business combined with my hospitality background and offered a service to help others create their cigar lounges. A total turnkey program offered by no one else in the cigar industry which has been very active for the last 2 years with new proposals and projects coming to us monthly.

As for the philanthropy, from our first days in business in 1995 I was determined to be a community asset, as my father had taught me. We supported over 20 different charities the 2nd year and now support over 70/year. In 2003, my wife and I decided we would support to the best of our abilities, the men and women serving in the war. I had bought the usage rights for the military logos on cigars in 1998, which was a failed business experiment. Our original plan was to sell branch specific cigars on bases all over the country. We started with LUKE AFB, PENDLETON USMC and YUMA Marine Air Group. This failed terribly, our $5 cigar was too expensive for the servicemen on bases. With that realization, after 9-11, Judy and I decided we would never sell one again and ONLY donate the logo cigars with the MARINES, USN, USAF and US ARMY deployed and serving for our freedom. Since 2003, we have donated over 1.4 million cigars! Personally, deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan with the USO to entertain the troops, to host the first ever in history cigar social in a forward operating war zone. 27 different camps and outposts were seen and entertained. In 2009, I stood up our Non-Profit Foundation, FRIENDS OF FREEDOM, www.friendsoffreedomusa.org, to better raise funds and to do even more. Currently, we serve and support over 1000 service members and first responders with 30 different programs to benefit them. Our family philosophy of making the world around you (your neighborhood) a better place, supporting those who sacrifice, giving back to those less fortunate, is the calling card of the HADDAD family and the FUMAR CIGARS TEAM.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1: Life is an accumulation of skill sets. Pay attention to all of your experiences. Each one delivers a sliver of the pie of life. Without the background of golf and theater and hospitality, combined with grit and determination, all made the FUMAR CIGAR COMPANY real.

2: Practice 6 principals in life and work:
Sacrifice
Commitment
Courage
Integrity
Citizenship
Patriotism
Each has its own meaning and delivers to the next level. With sacrifice, comes commitment which requires courage and done with integrity. Citizenship is the community you live within, and Patriotism is the result of a life well lived in this the greatest country in history.

3: Be happy. Joy is infectious. It stares right at people and tells your story without saying a word. It is hard to not be successful if you practice Joy and happiness daily, reflecting on the blessings of your life and being grateful to all you come in contact.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

My parents, by their ACTIONS, demonstrated the benefits of hard work, integrity and happiness. Dad worked hard. He was a visionary that never let the “old ways” get in the way of new opportunities. He had the ability to see over the horizon and know the outcome of a decision, roll with the hand that is dealt, never got heated and never yelled. When dad was mad, he spoke softer. As a result of his love, the biggest regrets I ever had were when he was disappointed in me. This helped me always try to exceed expectations of my colleagues and teammates.
Mom, always the rock. She had very high expectations of quality and honesty. When i was in trouble, they laid the law, then never brought it up again. Consequences were part of the actions. Grudges were never held. Tomorrow was a new day. Make the best of it.
Dad was famous for his “Make work programs”. There was always something productive that could be done. Most of the make work stuff was designed to teach me something, usually what I DIDN’T want to do with my life. Tar a roof in the summer…..Pull Cattails out of a lake all summer….clean toilets and mop halls if I wanted to earn money, I had to work for it. Polish shoes in the winter, wash cars in the summer….all had value.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fumarcigarsusa.com
• Instagram: @fumarcigars
• Facebook: fumarcigars
• Linkedin: Fumar Cigars and David Haddad
• Yelp: Fumar Cigars